Lyric Opera of Chicago 2008/09 season preview

William Mason/general director, Sir Andrew Davis/music director, and Roger Pines/dramaturg discuss upcoming season and musical highlights with WFMT host CaroLyn Paulin

The Bucksbaum Family Lyric Opera Broadcasts of the 2007/08 season will be  rebroadcast internationally by The WFMT Radio Network May 10 - June 28

Lyric Opera of Chicago's general director William Mason, music director Sir Andrew Davis, and dramaturg Roger Pines will join WFMT program host CaroLyn Paulin on Saturday, May 3, between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. for musical excerpts and a lively conversation about the world-renowned opera company's eagerly anticipated 54th season.

The live broadcast will begin with music from and discussion of Massenet's exquisitely romantic Manon, which opens Lyric's season Sept. 27. Next up will be the great American opera, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, which will have its Lyric premiere. Attention will then turn to the lush and exotic music of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers. Alban Berg's 20th-century shocker, Lulu, will be the subject of the next segment, followed by discussion of Puccini's beloved Madama Butterfly. Wagner's great love epic, Tristan und Isolde, and Mozart's tale of romantic rescue, The Abduction from the Seraglio, will make for an interesting contrast of German-language operas. Closing the program will be the verismo double bill of Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

Opera fans who haven't already done so will be encouraged to subscribe to Lyric's 54th season by calling 312-332-2244, or going to www.lyricopera.org.

Beginning on Sat., May 10, and continuing every Saturday through June 28, The Bucksbaum Family Lyric Opera Broadcasts of the 2007/08 season will be rebroadcast internationally by The WFMT Radio Network and heard locally on 98.7WFMT. The broadcast order is as follows:

La traviata/Verdi                            May 10
Doctor Atomic/Adams                     May 17
The Barber of Seville/Rossini           May 24
Eugene Onegin/Tchaikovsky             May 31
Giulio Cesare/Handel                       June 7
La bohème/Puccini                          June 14
Die Frau ohne Schatten/R. Strauss   June 21
Falstaff/Verdi                                    June 28
          
Chicago-area broadcasts on 98.7WFMT begin at 12:30 p.m. except for the May 17 broadcast, which begins at 1:30 p.m. Check local listings for exact times and dates outside the Chicago area. The broadcasts can also be heard anywhere in the world on www.wfmt.com.

The Bucksbaum Family Lyric Opera Broadcasts are made possible by The Matthew and John Bucksbaum Families and General Growth Properties, with matching funds provided by The Crown Family, Richard P. and Susan Kiphart, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.